You’d be hard-pressed to find a better collection of beaches than the Uluwatu beaches in Bali. There are so many of them and the views of them from the surrounding cliff tops are spectacular.

Technically Uluwatu is just a small area at the bottom of Bali at the most southern point of the west coast. When people refer to Uluwatu though they’re usually referring to almost all of the area in Bali that’s in the little bubble bit in the bottom, the Bukit peninsula.

Uluwatu Beaches

Getting There | Tegal Wangi Beach | Balangan Beach | Dreamland Beach | Bingin Beach | Padang Padang Beach | Thomas Beach | Uluwatu Beach | Melasti Beach | Green Bowl Beach | Pandawa Beach | Nusa Dua Beach

 

Getting to the Beaches of Uluwatu

For most of these beaches, you could stay in the surrounding area of them if you desire or if you’re staying further up north in Bali, in Canggu, Echo beach or Seminyak you’d be able to drive a scooter down to explore for a day. It’s about an hour’s drive down though so you’d probably be better off staying around the area to ensure you’re able to explore properly, and there are a lot of amazing beaches there you’ll want to see.

If you haven’t driven a scooter before, or have just started, it would be much better to get a driver to go down in a car. You can hire a driver for 600,000 to 800,000 IDR a day and they’ll take you where ever you want to go during that day (it’s really good value for money).

If you want to see a few of the Uluwatu beaches I don’t recommend just getting a taxi down to one of them and then figuring it out as you go. You can’t get Grabs (Bali’s version of Uber) or Gojek in the area therefore you’re at the mercy of taxi mafia who will wildly overcharge you.

 

Pantai Tegal Wangi (Honeymoon Beach)

The first beach as you head down into the bobble of Bali in the south, just past Jimbaran. Honeymoons (Tegal Wangi beach) is a small beach and one of the quieter ones in Bali. It’s not a beach to go to if you’re looking for a variety of things to do, however. But it is nicer as a quieter beach to chill out on.

And you can go surf from there. It’s a good spot to check out if the waves are really large around the rest of Bali and you’re looking for a slightly smaller break. You have to jump from some rocks to paddle out though.

 

Balangan Beach

Balangan beach is one of my favourite beaches in Bali as it’s one of the few ones left where there’s still a local feel to it.

All the warungs (restaurants) along the beach, apart from one, are more similar to traditional Indonesian warungs, selling things like fried rice (nasi goreng), fried noodles (mie goreng) and Gado Gado.

Obviously they have a western slant on them, it is a tourist area but it’s very different to the restaurants that line the beach in Seminyak for example

And they’re all simple wooden buildings on stilts.

The one more western restaurant on the beach is called Lucky Wins and has a swimming pool too.

That might be useful to know if you’re not planning on surfing as the Balangan beach does have shallow reef and therefore isn’t the most relaxing to just wander into to float around.

It’s a great beach for surfing for beginners and advanced alike. When there are big swells the waves get very large there and it wouldn’t be safe for beginners but usually, it works for both as it’s such a long break. The wave starts all the way over on the left and breaks right the way along.

That means if you’re a good surfer you can get on at the peak and ride the wave all the way into the beach.

That also means if you’re a beginner there’s plenty of white water to surf too.

If you’re looking for a surf lesson head to Balangan Wave on the beach and they’ll sort you out).

The views from the top of the cliff at Balangan are definitely something not to be missed and if you have time I’d highly recommend walking up there for sunset.

If you’d like to stay directly on the beach check out The Point Beachfront Balangan or head up the steps of the cliff and stay at La Joya or Balangan Sea View Bungalow.

Read more about Balangan Beach Bali here.

 

Dreamland Beach

Personally I love dreamland beach but that’s mainly because I love the surfing there (it only works at really low tide and on certain swells though).

The beach itself is also beautiful but it does get a lot of tour busses going to it, therefore, it’s not exactly the most serene of experiences visiting there.

There are deck chairs to sit on and boogie boards available to rent as well as surfboards (I definitely wouldn’t recommend it as a spot for a first lesson).

If you want to pick up some cheap clothing there are shops all the way along the walkway to the beach as well.

At the actual beach itself, there’s only one restaurant but upstairs there’s also a sort of beach club type place with a swimming pool (although it’s not known for being the nicest and there are a lot of other beach club options in the area).

 

Bingin Beach

Bingin is the most town like of all the Uluwatu beaches with lots of cute, healthy restaurants on the winding roads leading to it and the even more of them built down the cliff front on the way to the beach. It gives it a nice community feel with all the restaurants bunched together and it’s a really popular area with those staying longer term in Bali in the Bukit Peninsula area.

The beach is long so there’s plenty of space to sit along it, but again there is a lot of reef to walk over if you want to pop in for a swim.

The waves at Bingin can work for both beginners to advanced, it just depends on the swell.

There is shallow, sharp reef at the surf break however so if you’re just learning and going out on a small swell then try to go at not too low a tide to avoid lots of cuts.

For those who are more advanced as it is shallow reef it’s a good spot for fast barrels when there’s some swell.

The café’s on the cliff front are one of the nicest places to chill out around Uluwatu with views of the sea.

If you’d like a more fancy place to chill out nearby too, El Kabron beach club is just by Bingin beach too.

The sun it just a bit too much round the corner for a good sunset there though.

Or you could stay at Morabito Art Cliff for your own little slice of luxury right by the beach.

Read more about Bingin Beach Bali here.

 

Padang Padang Beach

Padang Padang is known for being where the Rip Curl surf competitions are held every year but is also where part of Eat Pray Love was filmed.

It’s a really small beach with only one restaurant on it therefore if you’re looking for variety it’s definitely not the best of the Uluwatu beaches to choose to visit.

There are a reasonably large number fo stairs too (not as much as some of the other ones to follow however.

The waves there are bigger and more advanced than Balangan and a good place to go if you’re looking for barrels. Not a good place to go in you’re a beginner.

Even if you’re not a surfer it’s a fun place to go and watch people surfing for a few hours while enjoying the beach. Since there are fewer activities than the other beaches though best to plan to spend about half a day there.

(On the Rip Curl surf comp day, it’s not usually this busy)

If you’d like to stay near Padang Padang check out Casamar Bali for cheap accomodation or Surga Padang Padang for resort vibes.

Beach parties are also held here too.

Read more about Padang Padang Beach Bali here.

 

Thomas Beach

Thomas Beach is by far one of the prettiest beaches in Bali. Just look at it…

The water is bright blue and the sand clean white. Although everyone always describes Bali as paradise and therefore this might be the image people come to Bali within their minds, a lot of the beaches won’t’ live up to this expectation.

In fact a lot of beaches are actually black sand beaches.

This little slice of heaven will live up to all your Bali beach dreams though.

There are deck chairs, warungs along the beach to eat at, small waves to surf and not too many people.

Go for a day and just try to block out how un-fun climbing the stairs to leave at the end is.

Safety Warning: someone was attached in the Thomas beach carpark after sunset not too long ago. I think they caught the perpetrator however, in general, try to avoid leaving small, empty car parks once it’s dark. Fine in busier bigger ones but it is dangerous leaving the quiet ones at night on your own. And if someone stops you and you can, just give them your possessions. It’s not worth it.

If you want to read more about safety in Bali check out this post.

I’d highly recommend staying at PinkCoco Bali if you want to stay nearby (it’s so cute), although you will still need to be able to hire a scooter in order to get to the beach from your accommodation.

Most things in Bali need to be driven to, unfortunately.

And check out the bar Hatch while you’re in the area. It’s so beautiful inside, and it has Super Mario.

Read more about Thomas Beach Bali here.

Uluwatu Beach (also known as Suluban Beach or Blue Point Beach)

It might be a bit confusing me now talking about Uluwatu beach in a post about Uluwatu beaches but people refer to the whole area around as Uluwatu rather than just this specific point.

This beach is where some of the most challenging waves are in Bali. Just above it is a bar called Single Fin, which makes a perfect look at point to watch the surfers below if that’s your jam.

Or you can walk down through the winding cliff, past the local shops all the way to the beach itself.

There’s even a restaurant right down on the beach if you’d like a closer-up view of the surfers.

Whilst it’s a very cool beach to visit to look at, especially since part is through a cave-like walkway through the rocks, there’s not always a lot of beach to sit on depending on the tide, therefore, I wouldn’t recommend it as a sunbathing spot. It’s more of a grab a drink and watch the surfers type spot.

If you do want to chill out for a day near there Ulu Cliffhouse is just next door.

Or if you stay at De Sapphire Cliff Villa you’ll have clifftop views all to yourself

Pro tip: If you’re no feeling the thumping music and party vibes for sunset at Single fin head 5 minutes down the road to Mana Uluwatu for a relaxing atmosphere and great food and drink.

 

Nyang Nyang Beach

The most stairs of all the beaches! But for that reason Nyang Nyang remains one of the quietest beaches in the area too, not everyone’s willing to do that climb.

It feels like discovering a secret beach going down there and there’s even a shipwreck to reward you for the climb at the bottom too.

Melasti Beach

Melasti beach is one of the most un-spoilt beaches around Uluwatu. Head down to the right part of it and you’ll find nothing near you but sand and cliffs, which if all the crazy touritiness of Bali has been getting to you would make the perfect counterbalance.

Although walk a little bit along and you’ll be able to find deck chairs and warungs serving local food if you want a few more creature comforts, but without all the people!

It’s a good spot to take a picnic and cooler to with friends for the day as well so you’re not reliant on the limited options available in the shops and can still get the peaceful day out you’re craving.

Around this area is where most of the beach clubs in Bali are and Melasti has one of the most recently opened ones, Palmilla Bali.

 

Green Bowl Beach

More stairs. Not as many as Nyang Nyang but a strong contender for the most stairs in all of the Uluwatu beaches.

Green Bowl isn’t really a beach I’d recommend to go hang out on and just relax for the day.

On the way to Green Bowl beach you’ll arrive in a car park that has about 3 warungs at the side, some showers and toilets. As well as a lot of women selling bracelets and trying to convince you that you need to pay them for parking, even though you just paid at the gate.

From the parking lot you can see the surf break below but you can’t actually see the beach until you get down the stairs. And what you’ll probably have realized before even getting to the parking lot is that there are A LOT of monkeys in the area. They like to hangout in the middle of the road lot leads to the car park and then sit on your bikes/generally mess things up around there.

That doesn’t stop once you go down the stairs either.

You’ll see the monkeys either side of you as you walk own the steps that weave through the greenery. And they’re not the friendliest of sorts.

Keep your belongings close to you and don’t carry any food.

Down on Green Bowl beach itself, there’s only a small area of actual beach to sit on. It’s beautiful but since the beach is so small and, like a lot of the other Uluwatu beaches the floor of the sea is reef it doesn’t make for the most relaxing of times on the beach.

The monkeys also don’t help as they have been known to throw things off the cliff as people. And my things I mean rocks. Big rocks. At people’s heads. There is a cave you can hide in on the beach but be respectful. It has temples in it therefore siting inside there in a bikini would be inappropriate.

It’s beautiful to see but not one to spend you day at.

Unless you’re surfing in which case it’s a great place to go for intermediate to advanced surfers, especially when everywhere else is really small. It also tends to manage to avoid a lot of the off-shore wind, and rubbish, from rainy season in Bali.

If you want to stay near Green Bowl beach I can’t recommend Luz_ita Sunshine Villa enough.

Read more about Green Bowl Beach Bali here.

 

Pandawa Beach

Pandawa beach is just next to Green Bowl but couldn’t be more different.

Pandawa is by far the most commercial of the beaches in the Bukit area, although not commercial in the way Kuta beach is for example as Pandawa is geared towards Indonesian tourists.

There’s a large road that leads down to it through the cliffs and then it opens up to a long pathway along the beach and plenty of options of local restaurants and shops to buy souvenirs.

They even have kayaks for rent there and a Roosterfish Beach Club.

Another good spot for surfing, like Greenbowl, when it’s too small for other spots.

The beach is really long so there’s plenty of space for deckchairs along it. If you wanted to spend a whole day at one beach around Uluwatu this would definitely be one of your best bets to go to.

Roosterfish beach club is connected to Renaissance Bali Uluwatu Resort and Spa so if you stay there they’ll shuttle you to and from the beach it’s quite far away though. Cheaper accomodation right by the beach can be found at Pandawa Hill resort.

Read more about Pandawa Beach here.

 

Nusa Dua Beach

I don’t know if I should include this in a list of Uluwatu beaches or not since people don’t usually think of it as part of Uluwatu although it is down in the bobble bit of Bali, but just on the East Coast.

I’ll keep it quick in case it doesn’t belong here.

Nusa Dua is where all the fancy resorts are in Bali.

As a result, there is a really nice pathway you can use to walk along the beach there (although you won’t be able to sit on the beach where it’s in front of hotels as that will probably be their bit of beach).

It also what’s probably my favourite tourist attraction in all of Bali which is Waterblow. Waterblow is a black rock formation where water comes in and smashing up against the rocks creating beautiful shapes.

It’s spectacular to watch.

You can also surf there and rent deck chairs in the areas not owned by the hotels.

The water is some of the clearest blue in Bali. It’s a beautiful beach.

Read more about Nusa Dua beach here.

Or if you’re looking for where to stay in Bali check this post out.

 

Which is your favorite of the Uluwatu Beaches? Let me know in the comments below.